Damon Lindelof explains pseudo-Alien prequel Prometheus

“A true prequel should be entirely different”

Writer Damon Lindelof has spoken up about just how director Ridley Scott’s new sci-fi Prometheus fits into the Alien franchise.

Originally pitched as a prequel to the first Alien movie, Prometheus changed when Lindelof was brought in to perform a rewrite on the script.

“It started as an Alien prequel,” Lindelof explains. “That is what everybody wanted it to be. Obviously, Ridley Scott has not made a science fiction movie in 25 years, since Blade Runner , so the idea that he’s returning to this genre is huge.

“But there is a real issue which is - what is the state of the Alien franchise at this point in our lives? There has been Alien Vs Predator and all these things, and it has been completely and totally diluted.”

How to fix that? Well, go back to the very beginning and tell a completely different story.

“I’ve always felt that really good prequels should be original movies,” Lindelof says. “You can do movies which take place before Star Wars , but I don’t need to see the story of the Skywalker clan. Show me something else which I can’t guess the possible outcome of.

“There is no suspense in inevitability. So a true prequel should essentially precede the events of the original film, but be about something entirely different, feature different characters, have an entirely different theme, although it takes place in that same world.